Henbit

Best Management Practices:

Henbit

Henbit is a cool season, annual broadleaf weed that has greenish to purplish four-sided stems. Its egg-shaped leaves surround the stem and will have toothed margins with prominent veins on the underside. The flowers of henbit are reddish to purplish and may have dark colored spots on the lower petal. Henbit comes back from seed each year, usually germinating in the fall season and possibly into the winter.

Henbit begins its life by germinating in the fall from seed. Pre-emergent herbicides work by killing germinating seeds from weedy plants like henbit. Normally, an application of a pre-emergent in early/mid September will work well. This weed may germinate into the winter—so, a second pre-emergent application in November may be warranted.

There are several pre-emergent herbicides that can be used to control henbit in most turfgrass sites including bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass, and buffalograss. Examples include XL- 2G (Benefin plus Oryzalin), Pendulum 2G or Anderson11-3-11 (Pendimethalin) andBalan 2.5 G .

If you have henbit that escapes the pre-emergent or you do not apply a pre-emergent, you may need to apply a post-emergent herbicide. These herbicides can be effective if used when the henbit is very young/immature and actively growing. Speedzone Southern, Weed Free Zone, and Trimec Southern. They work very well if used in the correct manner. It may require multiple applications to obtain excellent control with these post-emergent products. CAUTION: Make sure you read the labels carefully for the tolerance level of your specific turfgrass for all herbicides.